Soon, anyone would be able to file an RTI application over the phone, with help and guidance from a call centre as well as through a website While the government is consistently blamed for diluting the RTI (Right to Information) Act in several ways besides making illogical amendments at the state level, it is gearing up to make filing of RTI applications by just making a phone call. Citizens will not...
More »SEARCH RESULT
RTI success: Ministry of environment & forests uploads the damning Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel Report-Vinita Deshmukh
On 23rd May, Moneylife wrote on how a Kerala citizen was denied access to Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel Report (WGEEP). The Central Information Commission and the Delhi High Court ordered the ministry to make it public. It has now been uploaded on its site Just when one wondered whether the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) would turn to the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court on 17th May,...
More »Amended RTI rules by Maharashtra govt creates confusion-Vinita Deshmukh
Should the applicant and the Public Information Officer follow the amended rules of the state government or abide by the National RTI Act? There’s a lot of conflict, say experts The Maharashtra government’s amended RTI (Right to Information) rules are in straight conflict with that of the national RTI Act. This has led to a cloud of confusion amongst RTI applicants and Public Information Officers (PIOs), say RTI experts. One wonders...
More »The Great Indian Media Hoax Of Self-Regulation: Ruchi Gupta
-Kafila.org With a comfortable gap of time after the revelations of paid news, private treaties and the Radia tapes, the media is once again on the offensive to guard its independence. The trigger this time is a private member’s bill, the Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation Bill, 2012. The proposed legislation has been widely and energetically panned by the industry, with the Congress subsequently distancing itself from the Bill....
More »Fetters on the media? -V Venkatesan
The proposal made by a Supreme Court Bench to have guidelines for legal reporting is seen as a serious threat to the freedom of the media. Paradoxes are not new to India. But the current challenges to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media are sure to confound a future historian looking for explanations. The country is fortunate to have the best of historical circumstances that are conducive...
More »